China's greenhouse gas emission targets are at risk as a result of the trade war with the United States, which has put Beijing's coal-reliant economy under heavy pressure, a senior climate official said Friday.

"External elements, such as the Sino-U.S. trade war, have brought negative impacts and increasing uncertainties to the global economy, which has also made it more difficult for China to tackle climate change," said Li Gao, head of the climate change office at the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.

The world's biggest producer of climate-warming greenhouse gases has pledged to bring its emissions to a peak by around 2030 as part of the global effort to curb rising temperatures.